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One of the highlights for anybody’s trip to Dubai is undoubtedly a visit to Atlantis, The Palm. It is the second Atlantis Resort in the world, after the original on Paradise Island in the Bahamas. In 2017, the third Atlantis Resort will open in Sanya, China. However, perhaps the most impressive of all these designs is the Arabic-themed façade of Atlantis, The Palm. But how can you make the most of your stay?

As is typical throughout Dubai, coming here will not be a cheap experience for you, but Atlantis is certainly one of those one-of-a-king experiences that you must do once in your life. From deluxe rooms to royal suites, and from swimming with sharks to dining in celebrity restaurants, you can find everything you need (and then some!) here at Atlantis.

Atlantis, The Palm is located on the crescent of the largest man-made island in the world, The Palm Island. The resort is approximately 30 minutes from Dubai International Airport and 90 minutes from Abu Dhabi International Airport. From Dubai Airport, you can take a taxi directly to Atlantis (approximately AED 90). Alternatively, from anywhere in the emirate, take the Dubai Metro to Dubai Marina, hop on the Dubai Tram, and finally onto the privately-owned Palm Monorail, which runs along the trunk of Palm Jumeirah right up to Atlantis Resort at the far end. I would recommend doing this to get a glimpse of the stunning panoramic views.

There are two major aquariums in Dubai: the Dubai Aquarium in the Dubai Mall, and The Lost Chambers here at Atlantis Resort. The one at the Dubai Mall is larger (the largest in the world, in fact) but the Lost Chambers is slightly better and slightly cheaper. In house guests can enter the Lost Chambers for free. Once inside, apart from the regular exhibits, there is the chance to dive and snorkel.

Aquaventure is the name of the water park at Atlantis Resort. In terms of sheer size, it is larger than any other water park in the region. It’s main competitor is Wild Wadi on Jumeirah Beach, and the two parks are pretty similar in terms of attractions. As well as the water slides, there is the chance to experience (for additional fees) a shark safari and stingray feeding! Aquaventure admission is completely free to Atlantis hotel guests and we ended up going every day!

Rooms in the hotel are not cheap (very rare to see even the cheapest rooms available for less than £300 per night most of the year), but you can be assured of absolute luxury while you’re there. In the absolute heat of the Arabian summer, hotel prices all over Dubai will fall by almost 40%, although even if you take advantage of this, you can’t really do any sunbathing or swimming because you’d crisp in the heat! Almost all of the rooms at Atlantis have sea-facing views due to the location of the hotel on the main Palm frond. 20 amazing restaurants and bars, including the “underwater” Ossiano Restaurant and a new Bread Street Kitchen concept by British celebrity chef Gordon Ramsey, will keep you fed and watered during your stay.

I’m always hunting for super easy and tasty food to cook as I love cooking but let’s face it nobody likes slaving away in the kitchen for hours on end after a busy day at work! So if you ever get home from work and don’t know what to cook. Or if you are you rushed for time and find it difficult to find inspiration. Try my super quick and tasty spicy mexican chicken recipe. If you don’t like spice, you can exclude the chilli powder

Fireplaces are often thought of as a luxury item. They’re not in every household and are rarely found in flats/ houses. Just because they’re hard to find, though, doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy your very own fireplace. I’ll show you how we created our own luxury living arrangement.

Our living room needed something different, something to make it feel special as its our first home. There was a large, undecorated area that was seemingly made for a fireplace. We knew there’d be a lot of work involved and thankfully, my other half agreed with my very tight timeline! We did everything from ripping down wallpaper, removing plaster, re-skimming walls and replacing some wooden flooring.

Here’s the start of the project – a regular looking electric fireplace

The first step was to strip off the wallpaper and knock out the old structure

The next step was to recess our fireplace and create a small box in the wall – this would house all those unsightly cables from the TV. We also keep our amazon firebox and wifi box in here (I’m a neat freak and hate seeing loose cables around!)

Now that the fireplace was finished, there was still one thing left to do to really finish the room – wall mount the TV, put the fireplace on and put our feet up with a nice cup of tea

While it’s not a wood-burning fireplace, I think I might actually prefer this! No messy wood to haul in during the winter and all you have to do is push a button to make it start. What a great place to gather the whole family! Who wants to come over? :-p